A group of teenage “citizen scientists” have been helping the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe this spring by studying an urban creek that hasn’t been looked at in nearly 30 years. Students in the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center’s (NOPSC) natural resources class helped install a smolt trap on Tumwater Creek in early May. Students and […]
The United States Geological Survey announced this week that five papers revealing results of several studies of the effects of dam removal on the Elwha River were published recently in the science journal, Geomorphology. Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe habitat program manager Mike McHenry contributed to one of the papers discussing the significant changes in the river channel […]
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is studying how wildlife might help or hinder growth of new vegetation along the restored Elwha River. The tribe is watching how small mammals, elk, deer and birds are taking advantage of the newly opened plains of the former lakebeds of lakes Aldwell and Mills, in partnership with Olympic National […]
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is tagging large woody debris to follow it as it moves through the newly restored Elwha River system. “We’re tracking over 2,000 logs and tree stumps with silver tree tags, from the upstream end of Lake Mills to the river mouth,” said Vivian Leung, a doctoral student of geomorphology at […]
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Washington Sea Grant are observing an increase of forage fish and Dungeness crab near the mouth of the Elwha River since the river’s two dams have been demolished. Divers have noted continuous sand deposits in the Elwha nearshore, covering formerly cobble-dominated sub-tidal areas. This has […]
Standing in the sunroof of a truck, Kim Sager-Fradkin points her spotlight into a dark clearcut, searching for pairs of reflective deer eyes. Spotlighting is just one method the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s wildlife biologist is using to count the black-tailed deer population on the North Olympic Peninsula as part of a three-year study. “Very […]
The Associated Press posted an update recently about the removal of the Elwha River’s two fish-blocking dams, the Elwha and Glines Canyon, and the rapid changes witnessed by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and scientists involved since dam deconstruction started in 2011. From the story: Marine creatures such as eulachon, or candlefish, and Dungeness crab have been […]
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is wrapping up its four-year study on river otters and American dippers in the Elwha River watershed. The tribe has been studying how the animals use the river for food and habitat and how those needs have been impacted by the recent removal of the river’s Elwha and Glines Canyon […]
With thousands of cubic yards of sediment forming new beaches at the mouth of the Elwha River, marine life that’s been missing for decades is showing up again. Before the recent deconstruction of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, the beaches at the mouth of the river were mostly cobblestone, which is suitable for a […]
Pink salmon are the most abundant salmon species in the Northwest, but the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe didn’t want to risk losing the Elwha River pink population with the current removal of the river’s two fish-blocking dams. The deconstruction of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are part of the massive project to restore […]
